A new poll indicates that a big chunk of the public doesn't think expanding …

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The Pew Internet and American Life Project has a new poll that definitely got our attention. It reports that, in contrast to many policy makers, a majority of Americans don't think making broadband more affordable should be a "major" government priority.

In fact: "Contrary to what some might suspect," the poll's author adds, "non-internet users are less likely than current users to say the government should place a high priority on the spread of high-speed connections."

The big question asked of 2,252 people age 18 and older was:

"Do you think that expanding affordable high-speed internet access to everyone in the country should be a top priority for the federal government, important but a lower priority, not too important, or should it not be done?"

Here are how the responses broke down:

Data source: Pew Internet and American Life Project

And the poll found that most Americans don't see lack of broadband as a "major disadvantage" in any area. Forty-three percent think it is when it comes to education and 34 percent think it hampers getting good information about health. But those percentages drop below a third for similar queries about life enrichment, access to government services, keeping up with news, and following community events.

Big slowdown

Overall, broadband adoption "slowed dramatically" in 2010, Pew reports, with the exception of adoption for African-Americans. Sixty-six percent of Americans now have high-speed Internet connections at home, not much more than last year, when 63 percent bought an ISP subscription. But African-American use jumped by 10 percent over that same time period.

Meanwhile, one-fifth of American adults still don't use the Internet. Half told Pew it is "not relevant to their lives." A tenth said they just weren't interested in the service. Sixty percent said they "would need assistance" to get online. "Just one in five know enough about computers and technology to start using the internet on their own," they disclosed to pollsters.

This news comes, of course, as the Federal government prepares to disperse another $4.8 billion in broadband stimulus grants. The money for middle mile, last mile, and public computer center projects has to be out the door by September 30.

Know what you're getting

We polled various supporters of this sort of activity. They all took the Pew report philosophically.

For some folks who don't have broadband, "it's a very difficult thing to understand and obviously they think it wouldn't be useful in their life," commented Kavin Taglang of the Benton foundation. "Obviously they're going to say, 'Why is the government pushing this thing that I think is of no value'?"

Sherwin Sly of Public Knowledge saw the problem in similar terms. "You don't know what you have until you've got it," he noted. "A person who hasn't had the experience of usable affordable connectivity isn't going to recognize its benefits."

Both Sly and Joel Kelsey of Free Press pointed to skepticism in the last century about rural electrification and telephone service.

"Every time the country has seen technological advancement, we've seen the same debate," Kelsey observed. "Long distance, rural electrification, even indoor plumbing. Some things just need to get built from our country to move forward. Broadband is one of them."

Indeed, for all the hoopla about "universal service" through the mid-20th century, it really wasn't until after the Second World War that residential telephone and long distance connectivity really took off in the United States.

Even consumers who could afford phone connections in the 1920s sometimes declined that chance in favor of a family car, and phone subscribership dropped dramatically during the Great Depression.

In that comparative context, the fact that Pew reports that a mild gain in broadband use through this punishing recession is good news. But there's definitely a divide between advocates of government-encouraged universal broadband and that big chunk of the public who haven't gotten there yet.

Update

The Federal Communications Commission just sent us this response to the Pew report:

"Today’s Pew report confirms what the FCC found in our broadband survey last year: there are still too many barriers to broadband adoption in America,” said Jen Howard, FCC spokesperson. "That’s why the National Broadband Plan lays out a strategy for improving digital literacy and ensuring that all Americans can take full advantage of the benefits of broadband. We’re more committed than ever to educating Americans about the ways that broadband can improve their lives, whether that’s helping them build their businesses, access education tools, enhance their health care, or communicate with their government and each other."

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Matthew Lasar
Matt writes for Ars Technica about media/technology history, intellectual property, the FCC, or the Internet in general. He teaches United States history and politics at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Emailmatthew.lasar@arstechnica.com//Twitter@matthewlasar